Crawley's hopes of avoiding relegation have been dealt a major blow after defender Richard Wood was recalled early from his loan by Rotherham United.

Wood was due to remain with Reds until the end of the season but Millers boss Steve Evans has invoked a 24 hour recall clause.

Wood has scored three goals in ten games for Crawley and has helped Dean Saunders' men keep three clean sheets in their last four matches.

It causes Saunders a real headache ahead of Saturday's crucial trip to fellow strugglers Scunthorpe with centre-backs Dean Leacock and Darren Ward both sidelined through injury.

That leaves just Sonny Bradley as the only available central defender with either Marvin Elliott or Kelly Youga likely to be used to fill the gap.

Former Crawley boss Evans said: "We are bringing Richard back. He’s an experienced professional and in his 10 games at Crawley he’s simply been their best player.”